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Chopper Class With Mr. Baas

Chopper Class

Now most of you will know the name Kevin Baas, or Teach as he is more commonly refereed to in the motorcycle industry. In his time as a high school teacher he has made a mark on this generation and generations to come. We have proudly carried his article each month about the Kennedy High School class and the good work he has done with his students for years now. In that time we have watched his kids grow up and grow into thinking, creative adults. One such case, that we are very proud to report on, is a young lady with a bright future who is about to graduate. As part of her recognition for the time she has spent in Mr. Baas’ class he let her write the column this issue. We would like to reprint it here to give her our own additional recognition and wish her luck in life.

Chopper Class With Mr. Baas – Reprinted From June ’14 Cycle Source Magazine

Article By: Andee Nestaval

This month I thought it would be a good twist to let one of my senior students write an article about what the chopper class has done for her and what her future plans are. This girl is super talented and will do great things in the industry someday. I hope to help find sponsors for her as she pursues her racing career and look forward to seeing all the great things she will accomplish. So without further adieu I give you Andee…..
Hello my name is Andee Nestaval . I have been in the Kennedy High School Chopper Class for the last 4 years. I can’t believe that I will be graduating in June. It seems like yesterday that I was a little girls, always chasing my dad around in the garage, trying to figure out what he was doing and if there was anything I could do to help. I have always liked to get dirty working on things. My dad would let me get the tools he needed and then I would put them back, and by the time we were done I would look at his hands  then look at mine and think to my myself that it wasn’t fair or I didn’t do enough because my hands were never as dirty as his. My family has been big into motorcycles. My dad had his first one by age 17 and he had to hide it from his parents. My Aunt Alyn went to Sturgis a few times and wrote a book called Women of the Road. Aunt Alyn was the biggest inspiration of my life and even though she is not here with me, she lost her battle with Breast Cancer, I still continue to grow and look up to her as a great role model. Lastly my grandparents, they are so cute because they still go out on short rides. My grandpa thinks I’m crazy ‘cause I like loud engines that vibrate and leak oil, they are my favorite because of the history.
I first started learning about motorcycle history my freshman year in chopper class.  I remember sitting down, and Baas introducing himself as Mr. Baas, I cringed in my seat because that didn’t sound right.  I told myself that I would just call him Baas from then on. Chopper class starts with safety knowledge, which I could not wait ‘till it was done and I passed so we could get to the shop part. At first I was quiet and had no idea what to do, but I could kinda mig weld. I would weld at home with my dad, he had to go buy another helmet because he couldn’t keep me away from his. One day Baas walked up to me and asked if I could do some welding for him, I told him that I really didn’t like mig welding ‘cause its messy, Baas looked at me and told me he was going to teach me how to tig weld and from then on tig welding has been no problem. Once I got better at tig welding he had me tack weld some pipes for him and for some reason I knew that all I wanted to do was work on and build bikes. I decided to sell my horse that I was doing rodeo with and get an iron horse.
Chopper class with Baas has taught me valuable and important life skills with motorcycles. In class we learned welding, mill work, lathe work, cnc plasma cutting, and free hand plasma cutting. Baas also teaches us motorcycle mechanics at an entry level, but I realized he really knows his stuff when it comes to motorcycles.  The winter of my junior year, Jeremy from S & S Motors, came in to chopper class and told us he had a build for the class. Once I saw the engine, X-wedge, and the frame, Rolling Thunder Swing Arm, I told myself that this was my bike and I was going to build it.  Baas had me start on the design for the bike on paper. We discussed the bike style and the colors to influence my design. Once the design was done, I started with the tank, and fabricated a wood buck. We took the bike to the S & S Summer show June of 2013, and then have continued to work on this bike this year, presenting the Bike at the Donnie Smith Show March 2014. Bass and I hope to one day take the bike to the Bonneville salt flats and see what it is capable of doing.
I’ve also been working on my personal bike at home in the garage with my dad. Last year in May my dad found my first bike, a Honda Shadow 600 VLX in Sierra Vista, Arizona. He had been working construction there for the last 3 years.  Dad could get a ticket for one of us to fly and visit him, so he and mom decided I would fly out to Arizona. That’s when my Dad decided we would ride our bikes back to Minnesota. Thus our border to border ride! He kept us off the interstates and we took some fun, amazing back mountain roads along the way. In Kearney, Nebraska I had an accident and the ride stopped. Since then we have been fixing and customizing my bike as we put it back together.  When it’s finished we are going to go back to Kearney, and finish the ride home. I have chosen the weekend of May 16th, I am opting out of Prom my Senior year, for something better, the road, my bike and my Daddy.
Shortly after getting home from the trip I purchased my first Harley-Davidson. It is a 1968 XLR, it is in running condition, and I intend to dirt track race in vintage races with it. Baas introduced me to Brittany Olsen, a vintage racer and well…I’m hooked. Can’t wait to run my first dirt track race!
If you couldn’t tell by now, Baas’s passion for bikes has rubbed off on me. I have now chosen bikes to be what I go to school for. I have been accepted to MMI, Motorcycle Mechanics Institute, in Arizona. I plan on taking the basic motorcycle class and then taking the Harley Davidson Late Model Elective and the Early Model elective. I am so excited for a future doing what I have come to love.
Four years of hard work and dedication, a new found love of bikes, and I’m proud to say that I have oil stains on almost every piece of clothing I own. As for the future, as long as motorcycles are involved life will be great. My next ride will be to Yuba Wisconsin for the Knuckle Shuffle this June, so see ya on the road….

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